WIZARDS' WORLD (Original 1983)

Back in 1983 a small Californian game company, Fantasy Worlds Unlimited, released WIZARDS' WORLD, a fantasy RPG. The result of how the author's home game evolved, WIZARDS' WORLD included several innovations for its time, not unlike other efforts from the 80s, such as The Complete Warlock or The Palladium Fantasy RPG. WIZARDS' WORLD is an important game in the history of fantasy RPGs, because it reflects the design enthusiasm of the early 80s and is an interesting example of how many people at this time were taking inspiration from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. In many ways WIZARDS' WORLD might be what Second Edition could look like in an alternate universe.

Play a demon halfling, a metamorphic dwarf, or a vampire!

From the back cover:

In Wizards' World you can

— Explore uncharted wildernesses

— Do battle with fierce monsters

— Accumulate great hordes of gold and silver

— Gain amazing magical powers.

You create the characters and play them the way you like. The game master determines the challenges to be faced and the rewards to be reaped; you and your fellow adventurers decide on the strategy.

This manual provides guidelines for play, including

— Character races

— Character professions

— Magical spells

— Combat rules

— Monsters.

All that is needed to enjoy many hours of fascinating adventures in the comfort of your home is in this book. You will need a variety of dice, and a vivid imagination.

What can one say about Wizard's World? Well for starters it could be easily dismissed as yet another fantasy heartbreaker, but I don't think that would be fair really. Yes it's AD&D roots are showing and there is a lot about the this game that is [...]

(Purchased copy) Goblinoid Games have been really treating us recently to nibblets of the past with titles like Starships & Spacemen and Time Master. I really enjoying buying older titles, often only to read, sometimes to mine ideas or compare and [...]

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